Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-02-14
&eli0lons Department.
Moody's Perseverance,

There was a terribly wicked man who
kept a saloon and whose children | was
very anxious to have come to my Sabbath
school. SO one day | called on this man
and said Mr.. Bell, l want you to let
your children come to the Sabbath
school," He was terribly angry, said he
did not believe in the Bible, school or
ANYTHING else, and ordered me to leave
the house. Soon after | went down again
and called on this man, and asked him TO
90 to church, and again he was very an
gry. He said that he had not been at
church for nineteen years, and would
never go again, and he would rather see
his boy a drunkard and his daughter a
harlot than that they should attend the
Sabbath school,. A second time | was
forced to leave the house. Two or three
days after | called again, and he said
''Well, [ guess o are a pretty good sort
of a man and different from the rest of
Christians, or you would not come back
So, seeing him in a good hnmor, | asked
him what he nae to say against Christ,
and il he had read his life? INC he ask
ed me what | had to say against Paine's
Age of Reason" and if [ had read it. |
said | had not read it, %whereupon he said
he would read the New Testament if [
would read the Age of Reason, to which
| at once agreed, though he had the best
bargain, and | did so. | did not like it
much, and would not advise any person
to read it. | asked Mr.. Bell to come to
church, but he said they were all hypO-
critics that went to church. This he
would do, however; | might come to his
house, if | liked, and preach. Here in
this s~aloon?' Yes! but look here, you
are not to do all the talking; he said that
he and his friends would have their say
as well as |. [ agreed that they might
lave the first forty-five minutes and l the
last fifteen of the hour, which he thought
fair, and that was settled. The day
came, and [ went to keep my appoint
ment, but | / never i'll all my life met such
a crowd as when, on the day appointed, |
went to that saloon; such a collection of
infidels, deists, reprobates of all kinds |
never saw before. Their oaths and Ian
guage were horrible. Some of them
seemed as if they had come on leave of
absence from the pit. / never was so
near hell before. They began to talk in
the most blasphemOus way. Some
thought one thing, some another some
believed there was a God, others not
some thought there was such a man as
Jesus Christ, others that there never was
some didn' believe anything. They
couldn't agree, cOntradicted each other,
and very nearly came to fighting with one
another before the time had expired. l
had brought down a little boy, an or
phan, with me, and When l saw and
heard such blasphemy I thought l had
done wrong to bring him there. When
their time was up | said that we Chris
tians always began service with prayer to
God. Hold" said they, 1.-TWO must be
agreed first" ''Well here are two of US
And so | prayed, and the little boy did so.
| never heard a prayer like that in all my
life. 1t seemed as if God was speaking
through that little boy. With tears run
ming doWn his cheeks he besought God,
for Christ's sake, to take pity on all these
poor men, and that Went to their very
hearts. l heard sobs throughout the hall,
and one infidel went out at this door and
another at that and then Mr.. Bell came
up to me and said .tYou can have my
children, Mr.. Moody" And the best
friend that [ have in Chicago to-day is
that same Joshua Bell, and his son has
come out for Christ and is a worker for
characterization Statesman.